News Item

Intentional killing can never be celebrated

Tasmania is one step closer to allowing its citizens to end their own lives after the assisted suicide legislation passed in the Upper House yesterday. This is not something to celebrate.

Many people, including Christians, feel conflicted about euthanasia. It can seem more “compassionate” to help a dying person end their suffering.

But there is strong evidence that euthanasia is a slippery slope. And now, Tasmanians will need to be especially vigilant to ensure that this law is not misused in the worst of ways.

Belgium and the Netherlands have had euthanasia longer than any other countries and the first thing we can observe from their experience is that their legal “safeguards” don’t sufficiently protect the most vulnerable.

There are cases of elder abuse, misdiagnosis, and people choosing to end their lives simply to avoid “being a burden.” Shockingly, 69 Dutch people with psychiatric conditions or dementia were euthanised in 2018.

One in five Dutch doctors will allow euthanasia for “tired of life” cases. And worst of all, one in 60 assisted suicides in Belgium occur without an explicit request from the patient.

Clearly, there are very real dangers.

If you’re still unsure, consider these real-life cases and ask yourself if euthanasia was really the most compassionate, just, and only solution for these precious lives…

I could go on… stories like these abound. “Well, that wouldn’t happen in Australia!” people tell me. Well, look at the case of Dr. David Goodall.

Dr. David Goodall was a scientist from Perth. Amid much fanfare and media attention he travelled to Switzerland to receive voluntary euthanasia and he died. But here’s what nobody mentioned…

There was nothing wrong with Dr. Goodall.

He was just aged. He was 104 and for that age he was remarkably astute, fit, and healthy. So, we can’t say the mindsets of many people aren’t already down the slippery slope. We saw it in the advocacy around Dr. Goodall’s case.

When the “sanctity of life” goes, where do you draw the line?

For Christians, the passing of this law is not something to celebrate. Assisted suicide prematurely takes a person’s life, removes the opportunity to minister to them, and takes society down a dark path.

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